New Story, rejected

[mcfbridge]

Well, I had submitted my first story here, but your manager rejected it. I could have understood if it was for spellling, bad grammar, or even content. However, it was rejected because I have more than 1 person speaking per paragraph. Since, this story actually contains conversations with people talking back and forth, I have no intention of changing it.

Admittedly, I'm somewhat new to this, but this seems more of a matter of style than anything else. I have posted this and other stories now on other sites, so I'll stick with posting there. Also, the story is quite long (approx. 180kb), and I have no intention of going back and rewriting the entire thing in a style that it doesn't even belong in.

I'm sorry that I won't be able to contribute to this site, but I will stilll enjoy reading some of the stories contributed here

mcfbridge

 

[Colleen Thomas]

Have you ever tired to read a story with multiple people speaking in the same para in lit's format? It really strains the eye and the ability to keep up.

-Colly

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

Well, I had submitted my first story here, but your manager rejected it. I could have understood if it was for spellling, bad grammar, or even content. However, it was rejected because I have more than 1 person speaking per paragraph. Since, this story actually contains conversations with people talking back and forth, I have no intention of changing it.

Admittedly, I'm somewhat new to this, but this seems more of a matter of style than anything else. I have posted this and other stories now on other sites, so I'll stick with posting there. Also, the story is quite long (approx. 180kb), and I have no intention of going back and rewriting the entire thing in a style that it doesn't even belong in.

I'm sorry that I won't be able to contribute to this site, but I will stilll enjoy reading some of the stories contributed here

mcfbridge

It's your boat, paddle it any way you want. However, even in these days of post-modern lack of punctuation, one paragraph to one speaker is pretty much the standard for all types of publications. And as Colly pointed out, it's even more important with text that will be read on computers.

Take care.

Rumple Foreskin

 

[Mysteryjj]

Quite so

I don't write stories (yet) but I read a lot on literotica and other sites, Colleen and Mr Foreskin are correct, it's shit trying to sort it all out in your eyes and brain if everything's squashed together in one big lump on the screen.

Don't fret hun, just spend an hour jiggling a few things about and all will be well.

JJ xxx

 

[MathGirl]

I have no intention of changing it.

Dear MCF,
You and the editors at Lit. have something in common, then. They have no intention of accepting it.
MG

 

[gauchecritic]

Re: Quite so

Mr Foreskin

Ahhhh hahahahahahahahha ha haaa.



Gauche

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

Re: Re: Quite so

HAH!

Mysteryjj, don't you go paying any attention to that mean old Mr. Gauche. Nobody's sure whether God made him that way or he's just a self-made man.

Rumple Foreskin

 

[LorriLove]

Re: Re: Re: Quite so

HAH!

Mysteryjj, don't you go paying any attention to that mean old Mr. Gauche. Nobody's sure whether God made him that way or he's just a self-made man.

Rumple Foreskin

giggle!! i know who made gauche he did i think and long may he be so.

thing is rumple love, i think jj's like me, we don't often see a rumpled foreskin, they're usually well stretched and rock hard when we get to them, giggle

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

thing is rumple love, i think jj's like me, we don't often see a rumpled foreskin, they're usually well stretched and rock hard when we get to them, giggle

I hear you, LorriLove. But what about their condition AFTER you've finished with them?

Rumple Foreskin

 

[LorriLove]

giggle

I hear you, LorriLove. But what about their condition AFTER you've finished with them?

Rumple Foreskin

very limp, and very red

 

[Uther_Pendragon]

The rule that a quotation from a new person requires a new
paragraph is an old, long accepted, one. If Laurel wants
To enforce it on Lit, why get in a snit. It's standard
English. I'll admit that I've seen a lot of sex stories on
the Internet which didn't follow this rule. But I can't
recall ever seeing anything published by an actual
publisher which didn't follow the rule.
Rewriting that story shouldn't take that much effort, and
it will be more readable for the esercise.

 

[Icingsugar]

I was just about to post a "me too" post agreeing with the previous posters, but then I spotted your new thread.

 

[Guest]

I was just about to post a "me too" post agreeing with the previous posters, but then I spotted your new thread.

BurroBloke, you are soooooooooo cute at times.

Perdita

 

[Lauren Hynde]

I'll admit that I've seen a lot of sex stories on
the Internet which didn't follow this rule. But I can't
recall ever seeing anything published by an actual
publisher which didn't follow the rule.

Out of the top of my head, 'The History Man', by Sir Malcolm Bradbury, as well as pretty much every published novel by José Saramago, Nobel Prize winner in 1998.

The one speaker per paragraph rule is more of a guideline than an actual rule (are there any in literature?) and if your story really gains by choosing to ignore that rule (as those books I mentioned), if it was a conscious, justifiable decision, PM Laurel and explain yourself. She's intelligent and literate and will certainly reconsider the rejection.

If you're just too much of a lazy ass to rewrite the thing or are just throwing a tantrum because you think it looked cooler the way you had it, well...

 

[Lauren Hynde]

I was just about to post a "me too" post agreeing with the previous posters, but then I spotted your new thread.

Ooops

 

[Icingsugar]

Well, sure. There are always exceptopns to the "rule". Them runes are just guidelined that makes it easier to wirite a story that is seasilty read. When braking off from the common way of writitng things one does so for a reason, to achieve a certain effect. The same reason that some aitheors cut down to a minimum od conjuntions that, according to the "rules" shld be there. It gives theor text a higher tempo and snappy style. The same goes for the conversational narration of noir-esque stories and the abruptness of a lot of cyberpunk writitng. It doesn't follow the "rules". Butthe authors always knows why they bend thse rules, and how.

(I did cram a whole conversation into one paragraph in one of my Lit stories. Didn't even use quotation marks. That made it really hard to fllow, but that was the intention.)

I recently read a short story by Garcia Marques that was two pages containing one sentence. Worked just fine.

So basically; screw the rules if you have a good reason. If not, it's better to stick to them.

 

[Icingsugar]

BurroBloke, you are soooooooooo cute at times.

Perdita

It's a burden, I tell you.

back atcha.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

screw the rules if you have a good reason.

I thought men only needed a place.

 

[deliciously_naughty]

Well, I had submitted my first story here, but your manager rejected it. I could have understood if it was for spellling, bad grammar, or even content. However, it was rejected because I have more than 1 person speaking per paragraph. Since, this story actually contains conversations with people talking back and forth, I have no intention of changing it.

According to proper grammar, each time a new person speaks, you must start a new paragraph.

"Why are you pouting like a baby?" asked Joanne

"Because I want attention" replied Mary

"Why can't you just accept criticism?" interrupted Lily

and so forth

 

[Weird Harold]

The one speaker per paragraph rule is more of a guideline than an actual rule (are there any in literature?)

Actually, it's not really even a guideline -- it's merely an integral part of the definiton of "Paragraph" (at least according to my "Lexicon Webster's" version of the definition.)

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Which means zilch. In 'History Man', for example, whole conversations are grouped into single paragraphs. Unless the topic of the conversation changes, or unless there is a pause in the narrative flow, it just continues on the same line, jumping from speaker to speaker.

As a result, the dialogues are every bit as clear as they would be if they followed 'the rule', except it doesn't feel dialogue. The impression you get is that the narrator is always telling the story, even in direct speech. He's telling you that Howards said 'it should bend your mind,' and Barbara responded, 'don't patronize me.' Howard and Barbara don't even exist, probably. It is a work of fiction.

As a result, the third person narrator makes itself more present in this book than in any other I have ever read.

No rules, baby.

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

LH,

There are no "rules" in writing fiction except, and this is IMHO, thou shalt not bore thy reader.

Writers have used non-traditional grammar and punctuation for ages. The current "in" device in literary fiction is to omit commas and quotation marks.

The problem with doing that is it risks confusing and/or frustrating the reader and thereby throwing them out of the story. More often than not, that quickly leads to boredom and them closing the book or turning to another short story.

Due to that reality, editors and agents are often leery of submissions with unorthodox punctuation and grammar. This is especially true if the author is unpublished. The bottom line is each writer must decide for themselves if the possible gain outweighs the probable pain.

RF

 

[LorriLove]

Re: Re: New Story, rejected

According to proper grammar, each time a new person speaks, you must start a new paragraph.

"Why are you pouting like a baby?" asked Joanne

"Because I want attention" replied Mary

"Why can't you just accept criticism?" interrupted Lily

and so forth

yes d_n honey, a very proper way to write short snippets of dialogue, jumbled together these short phrases would become confused on a puter screen.

notice something else though on the subject of old english correct punctuation etc.

the question mark after the first phrase is an un-needed distraction, it is an obvious question backed up with narrative 'asked joanne'.

second phrase has no comma after the final word of the speech line, it doesn't really need one though, the quotation marks act as the break.

the third phrase again has a question mark, but yes this one is appropriate, the question isn't so obvious to a quick glimpse and is not qualified as such in the narrative 'interrupted lily'.

your second phrase line would get your story rejected on literotica however, they insist on the unwritten rules as law.

lorri's two pennyworth.

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

Lorri,

You remember the old joke about how "assume" makes an ass out of u and me? That's the problem with any unconventional usage. If the writer uses non-traditional grammar or punctuation, they're assuming the reader will still be able to figure out the meaning.

Toni Morrison is supposed to have gotten into a snit with an editor over a comma in her latest book. The editor said it needed to be there so readers could understand the meaning. Morrision wanted it left out because she wanted the reader to figure out the meaning.

This is the real world, not school. Everything is pass-fail. If someone's willing to pay money to read what you've written, you passed. If not, you failed. There's no right or wrong when writing commercial fiction-just effective and ineffective.

Rumple

 

[KillerMuffin]

Re: Re: Re: New Story, rejected

your second phrase line would get your story rejected on literotica however, they insist on the unwritten rules as law.

lorri's two pennyworth.

Literotica doesn't insist on unwritten rules as law. They insist on publishing works in a manner that's the most easily read by the reader both by convention (Check most any style guide and you'll see that things work this way) and by the simple fact that it's uber difficult to follow large blocks of text on the screen. ALL publishing venues with editors have a manuscript style they choose in which to publish their works. It's the author's job to conform to that style, not the publisher's job to conform to the author.

Mostly, I think writers refuse to conform to conventional style and usage out of sheer laziness rather than any actual nod toward creativity. That, or they forget that there are two people in the equation. The writer and the reader. Of the two, the publisher---any publisher---is far more interested in the wants of the reader. Why? Writers don't pay the bills; readers do. A smart writer never forgets who is on the other end of the story.